PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley junior forward Marcellus Sommerville (Peoria, Ill./Peoria H.S.) scored a game-high 22 points and shared game-high honors with nine rebounds, leading the Braves (9-2, 2-1) to an 81-70 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball victory versus Southwest Missouri State (7-4, 1-2) Wednesday night at Carver Arena.
Junior guard Tony Bennett (Chicago, Ill./Westinghouse H.S.) added 14 points and sophomore reserve center Michael Rembert (Chicago, Ill./St. Rita H.S.) scored a career-best 10 points off the bench to aid the Bradley cause. SMS reserves Sky Frazier (19 points) and Anthony Shavies (16) were the only two Bears to score in double-figures.
Bradley dominated on the defensive end, limiting the Bears to 29.6 percent (21-71) shooting from the field, a figure that was aided by school-record-tying 10 blocked shots. Freshman center Patrick O'Bryant (Blaine, Minn./Blaine H.S.), the league's leading shot blocker, also tied the individual school record with seven rejections in just 16 minutes of action.
Wednesday's game was slowed by a total of 60 foul calls, 31 against SMS and 29 versus the Braves. Bradley, which led by as many as 23 points, 73-50, with 5:13 left in the game could have made the score much uglier, but the Braves missed half of their 40 free throw attempts.
With the Bears ice cold from the field, the game also featured 110 missed field goal and free throw attempts. The Bears hauled down 17 of their 23 offensive rebounds in the second half and finished with a 50-46 rebounding edge.
Leading 10-8 following a Tyler Cheney 3-point play with 14:19 left in the first half, Bradley scored 13 of the game's next 15 points to take control. Sommerville's baseline jumper on an out of bounds play started the surge and Rembert followed with the game's next five points. SMS could not close the gap to single digits and Bradley eventually used another 12-1 burst, capped by a Jeremy Crouch 3-pointer with 4:07 left in the half, to grab a 38-17 advantage.
After claiming a 46-31 halftime lead, Bradley kept its lead between 13 and 23 points throughout the second half until the Bears scored 12 of the game's final 16 points in the last 2:17 to make the score respectable.
The Braves, who improved to 8-0 at home this season and now have won 13 consecutive contests at Carver Arena, will go on the road for their next two games. Bradley will visit Drake Saturday night and early league co-leader Wichita State Jan. 12. Both games will be televised in Peoria by local NBC affiliate WEEK (25).
